Posted by BBC News on
Unknown gunmen have killed a Lebanese construction worker on his way to work in Nigeria's oil-rich city of Port Harcourt, say security sources.
They opened fire on two Lebanese workers, although other details of the attack remain sketchy.
Industry sources describe the attack as "unusual" as it seemed deliberate.
The shooting is the latest in a growing number of incidents targeting foreign workers in the Niger Delta region which has seen oil exports cut by a fifth.
"Normally, the militants just kidnap the foreigners, but this one is different as we are being told that the attackers deliberately opened fire on them as if it was planned," a senior security official with a major western oil company told the BBC News website on the phone from Port Harcourt.
Senior police officers in Port Harcourt are meeting about the shooting.
Kidnap
Meanwhile, the Italian foreign ministry has confirmed that two Italian construction company employees have been kidnapped near Port Harcourt.
A militant group in the Niger Delta is already holding two Italian citizens.
On Thursday, it issued a warning after it said a Lebanese hostage had escaped captivity and had not been freed, as his company earlier claimed.